N.C. RESIDENTS WIN BIG MONEY FROM SMITHFIELD: A federal jury on Thursday handed a verdict worth more than $50 million to ten North Carolina plaintiffs who live near a hog farm contracted by Smithfield. They had charged that the industrial-scale operation tarnished their quality of life by exposing them to putrid manure smells, buzzards, swarms of flies and a steady stream of trucks laden with dead animals. The verdict could expose Smithfield to millions more in payouts related to other pending cases and also has the potential to force changes to how industrial farms operate. That could also have economic ramifications in North Carolina, where hog farming is a pillar of the state economy and total output ranks second only to Iowa, the pork-producing capital of the country.

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Cash breakdown: Each of the plaintiffs was awarded $75,000 in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. But North Carolina statute says punitive damages must be limited to three times the amount of compensatory damages, which would shake out to $225,000 per person.

Get ready for the appeal: Smithfield has vowed to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. It took the jury two days to reach its decision after hearing three weeks of testimony. The trial was the first of several dozen cases: About 500 residents sued Murphy-Brown, a subsidiary of Smithfield, in 2014 for what they say was the company’s refusal to invest in an alternative waste-disposal method that costs more but would have minimized odors emanating from Kinlaw Farm. The proceedings were seen as a bellwether for the remaining cases, which are scheduled to be heard throughout the rest of the year, Pro Ag’s Liz Crampton reports.

Grounds for appeal: Smithfield has already indicated how it might make its case to the appellate court, saying it believes the verdict would have been different if the judge had allowed the jury to visit the farm and hear testimony from an expert about odor testing. Another possible argument is for Murphy-Brown to contend that it didn’t have sufficient control over the operators of Kinlaw Farm, who were not named as defendants, to be held liable for damages, said Clayton Bailey, an attorney in Texas who was not involved with the case but has experience representing agricultural companies.

‘Piggybacking’ on a pig trial? There may be an uptick in related nuisance cases because of this verdict, Bailey said. “Somebody will look at this and say: ‘These folks won, let’s see how they did it,’ and they’ll try to piggyback and bring one somewhere else,” he said. “It could be against Smithfield; it could be against someone else; it could be in a different industry — it could be in the cattle industry.”

HAPPY FRIDAY, APRIL 27! Welcome to Morning Ag, where your host is heading to the U.S.’s southernmost winery this weekend to sample wine made from tropical fruits. Any opinions on which is the best option: mango, guava or passionfruit wine? Send news and tips to srodriguez@politico.com or @sabrod123. Follow the whole team: @Morning_Ag.

POLITICO’s Ben White is bringing Morning Money to the Milken Institute Global Conference to provide coverage of the day’s events and evening happenings. The newsletter will run April 29, 2018 - May 2, 2018. Sign up to keep up with your daily conference coverage.

NAFTA 2.0 CRUNCH TIME HAS ARRIVED: The U.S., Mexico and Canada could soon have a successfully renegotiated NAFTA, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray signaled on Thursday night. At the conclusion of a trilateral meeting between the NAFTA nations’ top trade leaders, Videgaray said a NAFTA 2.0 deal is “certainly possible” in the coming days. Negotiators have been meeting consistently in Washington, D.C., over the last month, as the pressure has built for them to produce a breakthrough agreement by early May, which would likely give the Trump administration just enough time to get it through Congress this year.

“We’re working on it. But we’re more concerned with having a good agreement than a quick agreement,” Videgaray said. “I think we are reasonably close.”

‘Progress’ was the buzzword: Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland was also optimistic on Thursday night, emphasizing that there has been “good progress this week.” Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, who has led Mexico’s efforts since the renegotiation launched in August 2017, offered a more muted take on where things stand.

“There is always progress. The point is if it’s enough progress to be really in the point you want to be — at the point where you can say, ‘Well, we finished,’” he said. “We are still in the process and we’ll keep on moving in the right direction.”

One-track mind: Ministerial-level meetings in recent weeks have almost exclusively focused on rules governing auto manufacturing in the region, an issue that Freeland has said is “at the heart of the negotiation” for all three countries.

Timeline remains unclear: Ministers will meet again this morning. However, Freeland and Guajardo would not confirm whether talks will continue over the weekend, saying they are taking things day by day. More from your host here.

CONAWAY’S FARM BILL AMENDMENT PLAN: House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway on Thursday expressed confidence that he can get a farm bill passed in the House during the week of May 14, and offered a window into how he plans to thwart so-called poison pill amendments that could sink the legislation. The Texas Republican, during an interview on the radio show “Adams on Agriculture,” said he expects a debate rule that would allow only lawmakers who plan to vote for the bill, H.R. 2 (115), to offer amendments.

“If you’re going to be a ‘no’ on final, and it sounds like [ranking member Collin] Peterson’s already made his mind up, then … he’s probably not getting an amendment through the rules just to make things worse, put a poison pill amendment in,” Conaway said.

Changes to SNAP, one way or another? Asked if there is a possibility that a farm bill that is conferenced between the House and Senate won’t include reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Conaway replied no: There will be some changes to the food stamp program, he said, but acknowledged that they may not go as far as what was proposed in the House measure.

“I’m going to get this bill across the House floor because it is just good policy. We didn’t come at this and try to cut spending ... We came at it the right way, with the right heart. We’re trying to help people get off these programs, get their lives back under their own control, and who’s against that?” he said.

Swaying the opposition? Conaway met with AARP on Wednesday in an effort to build support for the bill’s proposed changes to SNAP, which include stricter work requirements for between 5 million and 7 million Americans, tightened eligibility standards, and a significant investment to expand education and training programs. “They came out of that meeting scratching their heads as to why they were so vehemently against the bill when they found out that we don’t hurt seniors in our proposal,” Conaway said, adding: “They’ve had second thoughts as they understood what we’re actually doing and that they were misled.”

Joyce Rogers, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs, told MA that the organization continues to have “deep concerns about the negative impacts that the proposed changes to SNAP would have” on its 43 million recipients. AARP strongly opposes expanding work requirements, Rogers said, particularly for people ages 50 to 59 who often take longer to secure employment.

Shots fired at CBPP: Conaway also said during the interview that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank, is opposed to the nutrition title because it “goes after their cash cow.” His point was that the organization helps California and Illinois gain approval from USDA to waive time limits on SNAP benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents who aren’t working. States can request to temporarily waive that time limit when unemployment is high or when there are not enough jobs available. Currently, 36 states have waivers in place either statewide or in certain areas.

CBPP President Bob Greenstein refuted Conaway’s accusations in a statement to MA. He said the organization provides technical assistance to both Democrat- and Republican-led states at their request to determine which areas are eligible for time-limit waivers.

“The Center does not accept a single dollar from any government for this or any other work. We’ve been critical of Chairman Conaway’s SNAP proposals because we believe they are unsound and would increase hunger and hardship. The public deserves a robust debate on these issues without policymakers hurling scurrilous claims against those who have an honest disagreement with them,” Greenstein said.

PERDUE OK’S TRANSFER OF NON-INFECTIOUS ANIMAL VIRUS: A non-infectious version of the Foot and Mouth Disease virus can now be brought from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, off the coast of New York, to the U.S. mainland for further vaccine development, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced Thursday. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue authorized transfer of the virus, which has been genetically modified so it presents no risk of being transmitted to livestock. The added protection allows FMD vaccine development to take place within the U.S. instead of overseas, so USDA can source things more quickly in the event of an outbreak, the department said.

“With this announcement, vaccine companies may now apply for USDA permits to continue their work with this specific modified, non-infectious FMD virus in the United States,” APHIS said. “All permits granted would include appropriate biocontainment and use restrictions, and may be revoked if warranted.”

ROW CROPS:

— Feds green-light first GMO fish farm in U.S. —with a catch: The FDA has given the go-ahead for AquaBounty to raise genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon at an Indiana facility. It’s a big move for the GMO salmon, long caught in regulatory limbo, but the company remains prohibited from importing the eggs necessary for producing salmon due to an appropriations rider. More from FDA on its decision here.

— Latest dicamba decision: The Arkansas Supreme Court on Wednesday halted a pair of temporary restraining orders issued in lower courts that exempted certain farmers from the Arkansas Plant Board’s ban on the herbicide dicamba, which took effect last week, The Associated Press reported. Two circuit court judges had ruled the ban didn’t apply to select groups of farmers who had challenged it, but the state Supreme Court struck down those orders until a full hearing on the merits can be heard in coming months.

— FDA asked to dub eggs ‘healthy’: Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs, a leading organic egg producer, is petitioning FDA to update the definition of “healthy” in its food labeling rules so that the term can be used for eggs.

— Key moments from Pruitt’s Hill double-header: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt argued during back-to-back House committee hearings on Thursday that his critics were simply attempting to undercut the “transformational change” he’s making at the agency on behalf of President Donald Trump. Our POLITICO colleagues break down the important points from his testimony.

— Perdue’s liaison to the Hill clears the Hill: Ken Barbic, nominated by President Trump in January to be USDA assistant secretary for congressional relations, was confirmed by voice vote on Thursday — just in time for the farm bill reauthorization, Helena reports. Secretary Perdue said in response to the Senate’s action that Barbic, who most recently served as a senior director for the Western Growers Association, “will bring a combination of an agricultural background and legislative expertise to create a free-flowing dialogue and exchange of information with lawmakers.”

— Ag coalition urges House to protect crop insurance: More than 65 groups representing crop insurance companies, bankers, farmers and state agriculture agencies sent a letter to House lawmakers on Thursday requesting that they oppose controversial changes to the crop insurance program. Specifically, the coalition is concerned about amendments to the farm bill that would limit who can participate and potentially make premiums more expensive for producers during a time of low commodity prices. The letter also said private-sector delivery shouldn’t be harmed. Read it here.

— Pruitt confirmsnumber of RFS waiver requests: EPA received 24 waiver petitions in 2016 for small refineries to get out of their Renewable Fuel Standard requirements, and more than 30 applications for the 2017 compliance year, Pruitt told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Thursday. It marked the first time the agency has confirmed the number. Pro Energy’s Eric Wolff has more.

— GAO’s cost-saving recommendations for ag: The Government Accountability Office released a report on Thursday that highlighted nine actions related to agricultural programs that USDA or Congress could take to limit waste in government. One of those recommendations was for Congress to repeal the provision in the 2014 farm bill that blocks USDA, in its standards reinsurance agreement with companies selling crop insurance, from reducing their underwriting gains. GAO’s action tracker is here. Full report here.

— BASF adds to its gains from Bayer-Monsanto merger: BASF is purchasing Bayer’s vegetable seeds operation and certain seed treatments along with research on wheat hybrids, herbicides and digital farming as part of Bayer’s latest effort to sell off assets to secure approval of its acquisition of Monsanto, Bloomberg reports.

About The Author : Sabrina Rodriguez

Sabrina Rodríguez is a reporter for the Pro Trade team. Sabrina got her start at POLITICO in 2015 as a participant in the POLITICO Journalism Institute and later interned here twice. She most recently was a POLITICO fellow, covering both trade and agriculture issues.

A Miami native and Northwestern University grad, she has also interned at Chalkbeat New York, Miami New Times and The Miami Herald. She covered the first months of the Trump administration at Diario Perfil in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

About The Author : Catherine Boudreau

Catherine Boudreau is a food and agriculture reporter for POLITICO Pro.

Before joining POLITICO, Catherine spent nearly two years writing about agriculture, food safety and international trade at Bloomberg BNA where she covered Congress, the Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration. Catherine’s work also has appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek.

Catherine is a native Vermonter and carries pure maple syrup to her favorite brunch spots in D.C., her current home. When not working, she likes to plan trips to places she’s never been and see live music. She really wants to start playing piano again.